Obliteration

“Scary amazing fun.”—Brad Meltzer Evils both above and below ground arise once again, threatening the world and all its inhabitants with extinction in this electrifying science fiction thriller—the final novel set in the Awakened universe—from the #1 internationally bestselling author and star of television’s Impractical Jokers and a bestselling science fiction writer. Thanks to the heroics of former New York City Mayor Tom Cafferty and his team, the world is once again safe. The villainous Foundation for Human Advancement has been dismantled, the cities of the world are safe from nuclear annihilation, and Cafferty is now on a hunt to decimate every nest of creatures on the planet. When Cafferty enters a nest underneath the Nevada desert, he is horrified to find it completely empty. It can only mean one thing: the battle for survival is not over. Across the planet, creatures are emerging from their subterranean homes. Now, the all-out war against humanity has begun—a war in which only one apex species will survive. Humankind has finally met its match. Cafferty knows that only one man can help him stop the onslaught. A man who is despised by the world. A man who has already caused the death of millions. A man who is a sworn enemy hell-bent on taking Tom Cafferty down forever: Albert Van Ness. But even this desperate move may not be enough to stop the creatures and save humanity . . .

Emmanuel Levinas defines obliteration as a central concept with which to think about art. The interview with Françoise Armengaud is one of Levinas' rare statements focusing on the fine arts. Levinas has become influential in various disciplines through his ethics, which he thinks decisively from the face of the other. Yet his reflections on aesthetics are rarely engaged with, and when questions are asked about the face in art--and thus about the interrelationship of ethics and aesthetics--the main focus has been on his comments on literature. In this interview Levinas talks about the work of the French sculptor Sacha Sosno, and the complex relationship between ethics and aesthetics becomes no longer aligned with the face and language, but with iconic thinking and artistic operations and practices. Levinas understands obliteration as an 'unavailable,' an uncanny, disruptive concept. In doing so, he turns away from the "ease and lighthearted casualness of the beautiful" and to the processes of material wear and tear and the traces of their repair. He affirms these for their creative potential in developing a uniqueness of presence.The interview is supplemented by photographs by André Villers of Sosno's works, a foreword by Johannes Bennke and an epilogue by Dieter Mersch.

Nero charges into the wastes, hunting for the missing Nyx. But what the Road Knights find, will change the world forever. Taken by a Night Lord, Nyx is held in a derelict building, filled with arcane books. The Night Lord has her hunting for something, but to find it, she must learn the Mystic Arts. Fascinated, she begins to study. Nero and his friends are desperate to find Nyx. They cannot allow a Night Lord to hold her. The mysterious new arrival, Phoenix, agrees to help. With his rag-tag band and a plan, Nero strikes out into the wastes, hunting for his one true love. He must face powerful Daemon's, hungry undead and cruel mutants as he scowers the wasteland for Nyx. As Nero nears his goal, Nyx learns of a secret that could change the world forever. Could they banish the Night Lords and their Daemon servitors? Or will Nyx's captor beat her to it? Put the peddle to the metal, and ride into the wastes once more with the Road Knights.

Yayoi Kusama: Give Me Love documents the artist's most recent exhibition at David Zwirner, New York, which marked the US debut of The Obliteration Room, an all-white, domestic interior that viewers are invited to cover with dot stickers of various sizes and colors. Widely recognized as one of the most popular artists in the world, Yayoi Kusama has shaped her own narrative of postwar and contemporary art. Minimalism and Pop art, abstraction and conceptualism coincide in her practice, which spans painting, sculpture, performance, room-sized and outdoor installation, the written word, films, fashion, design, and architectural interventions. Born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Japan, Yayoi Kusama briefly studied painting in Kyoto before moving to New York City in the late 1950s. In the mid-1960s, she established herself in New York as an important avant-garde artist by staging groundbreaking happenings, events, and exhibitions. Now in her late 80s, Kusama is entering one of the richest creative periods of her life. Immersed in her studio six days a week, Kusama has spoken of her renewed dedication to creating art over the past years: “[N]ew ideas come welling up every day….Now I am more keenly aware of the time that remains and more in awe of the vast scope of art.” Taking The Obliteration Room as its centerpiece, this catalogue reveals, in vivid large-scale plates, the transformation of the space from a clean white interior to a stunningly saturated room, with ceilings, walls, and furniture covered in myriad multicolored stickers put there by viewers over the course of the exhibition. The catalogue also includes beautiful reproductions of Kusama's new large-format paintings from My Eternal Soul series. Ranging from bright and densely pixelated forms, to umber figures with darker blues and muted oranges, these paintings demonstrate the artist's striking command of color, and her exceptional control over balance and contrast. Bold brushstrokes hover between figuration and abstraction; vibrant, animated, and intense, these paintings introduce their own powerful pictorial logic, at once contemporary and universal. The catalogue continues with a selection of new, large Pumpkin sculptures, a form that Kusama has been exploring since her studies in Japan in the 1950s, and which gained prominence in the 1980s, continuing to remain an essential part of her practice. Made of shiny stainless steel and featuring painted dots or dot-shaped perforations that recall The Obliteration Room, these immersive works seem created on human scale, with the tallest measuring 70 inches (178 cm). Vibrant plates capture how color, shape, size, and surface merge in these sculptures and mesmerize the viewer. Texts include a "Hymn to Yayoi Kusama" by art critic and poet Akira Tatehata and a poem by the artist herself.

Since 1939, the Symposium Neuroradiologicum has been held every 4 years in various cities throughout the world. Great neuroradiologists such as Taveras, Du Boulay, Greitz, Lindgren, and DiChiro have been among the presidents of the previous symposia. The XV Symposium Neuroradiologicum was held in Kumamoto from 25 September through 1 October 1994. More than 1,200 participants gathered to discuss the most recent developments, including interventional neuroradiology, functional imaging, MRI contrast media, new techniques in MRI, iodinated contrast media and other advances. The communications are presented in this book. Special lectures held by Drs. Dillon, Harwood-Nash, and Picard are included. This book covers the most recent advances in neuroradiology.

The book is divided into two parts: Part I deals with the relevant physics and planning algorithms of protons (H Breuer) and Part II with the radiobiology, radiopathology and clinical outcomes of proton therapy and a comparison of proton therapy versus photon therapy (BJ Smit). Protons can be used for radiosurgery and general radio therapy. Since proton therapy was first proposed in 1946 by Wilson, about sixteen facilities have been built globally. Only a very few of these have isocentric beam delivery systems so that proton therapy is really only now in a position to be compared directly by means of randomised clinical trials, with modern photon radiotherapy therapy sys tems, both for radiosurgery and for general fractionated radiotherapy. Three-dimensional proton planning computer systems with image fusion (image of computerised tomography (CT), magnetic resonance registration) capabilities imaging (MRI), stereotactic angiograms and perhaps positron emission tomography (PET) are essential for accurate proton therapy planning. New planning systems for spot scanning are under development. Many of the older comparisons of the advantageous dose distributions for protons were made with parallel opposing or multiple co-planar field arrangements, which are now largely obsolete. New comparative plans are necessary once more because of the very rapid progress in 3-D conformal planning with photons. New cost-benefit analy ses may be needed. Low energy (about 70 MeV) proton therapy is eminently suitable for the treatment of eye tumours and has firmly established itself as very useful in this regard.